Europe

In the summer of 2006, Germany hosted the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup finals. (SeeSidebar.) In the final match, in Berlin on July 9, Italy, led by its inspirational captain, Fabio Cannavaro, defeated France 5–3 on penalty kicks after the match finished 1–1. It was Italy’s fourth World Cup title.

In the midst of the festivities after Italy’s defeat of France in the FIFA World Cup final on July …

Michael Dalder—Reuters /Landov

The tournament was overshadowed by domestic events in Italy, where a series of sensational match-fixing scandals unraveled around several leading Serie A teams and subsequently resulted in severe sanctions’ being taken out against them. Juventus, the 2005–06 Serie A champion, initially was stripped of its last two championship titles, was relegated to Serie B, and had 30 points deducted from the 2006–07 season. Fiorentina was relegated with a 12-point penalty, and Lazio was demoted with the loss of 7 points. AC Milan was allowed to remain in Serie A, but with a 15-point deduction. None was allowed entry to European cup competitions. On appeal, however, these sentences were reduced: Juventus, though relegation was confirmed, had 17 points taken off; Fiorentina and Lazio were both reinstated in Serie A with 19 and 11 points deducted, respectively; and AC Milan’s penalty was cut to 8 points, and the club was allowed in the Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) Champions League from the qualifying stage. Several officials, including referees, received suspensions. Gianluca Pessotto, the sports director at Juventus, who was not implicated, attempted suicide in June by falling from a fourth-story window. The Czech Republic was also embroiled in match fixing and was forced to delay the announcement of referee appointments until match days. FIFA suspended Greece, the reigning European champion, from all competitive football because of government interference in the federation’s activities. Within two weeks the ban was lifted when the state backed down. In the wake of the World Cup finals, qualifying matches began for Euro 2008, which would be cohosted by Austria and Switzerland. Germany set a record 13–0 win in San Marino.

There was drama on the field at the UEFA Champions League final on May 17 at Stade de France in Paris when multitalented Barcelona faced England’s Arsenal, which could boast that its traditionally miserly defense had conceded just two goals in 12 games and none in the last 10. Barcelona was looking to Ronaldinho (Ronaldo Assis de Moreira), the Brazilian international and reigning European and World Player of the Year, and Arsenal had high expectations for talented French striker Thierry Henry.

Arsenal began with more confidence. Barcelona was more incisive, however, and in the 18th minute Samuel Eto’o slipped through the Arsenal defense only to have his ankle pulled by Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. The ball broke away to Ludovic Giuly, who scored, but Norwegian referee Terje Hauge disallowed the goal, showed the red card to Lehmann, and awarded Barcelona a free kick. Arsenal coach Arsène Wenger sacrificed Robert Pirès and brought on reserve goalkeeper Manuel Almunia. Despite playing with 10 men, Arsenal took the lead after 37 minutes when right-back Emmanuel Eboué gained a free kick from a theatrical dive after a challenge by Carles Puyol. Henry floated the ball across for Sol Campbell to score for Arsenal with a powerful header. Then the Arsenal defense displayed its prowess. Though Eto’o forced Almunia to turn a shot onto a post, the hard-pressed defenders restricted the opposition to three free kicks outside the penalty area. Each time, Ronaldinho failed to hit the target. In counterattacks Arsenal posed danger, and Henry should have prevailed in a one-to-one encounter with Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés.

With time ebbing away in the increasingly rain-soaked arena, substitutions proved crucial for Barcelona. Swedish veteran striker Henrik Larsson came on and in the 76th minute touched the ball on to a suspiciously offside-looking Eto’o, who drew Almunia and drove the ball in at the near post to tie the score at 1–1. Five minutes later Larsson was again the playmaker for Brazilian full-back Juliano Belletti, whose hard-driven shot squeezed between the goalkeeper’s legs to give the Spanish champions a 2–1 victory. Barcelona’s Dutch coach, Frank Rijkaard, became the fifth man to win the European Cup as both a player and a manager.

In contrast, the UEFA Cup final on May 10 in Eindhoven, Neth., finished as a one-sided affair between Seville of Spain and England’s Middlesbrough. Seville opened the scoring in the 26th minute when Luis Fabiano glanced a header in off the post. Despite Seville’s superiority, it did not gain a second goal until the 78th minute, when Enzo Maresca followed up to score after Freddie Kanouté’s effort had been parried by goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. Six minutes later Jesús Navas, who had set up the previous goal, was the prime mover again as his cross kick was knocked on by Kanouté to Maresca, who finished with a left-foot drive to make it 3–0. Maresca almost completed his hat trick in the last minute, but Schwarzer again blocked his effort, and Kanouté scored for a 4–0 finale.

Financial difficulties were widespread. Two of the foremost Hungarian clubs were affected. Honved was suspended by the league over failure to pay a former employee, but the Hungarian federation overturned the decision. Ferencvaros, the most popular team in Hungary, with 28 championship titles, was relegated for failing to address mounting debts. In Bulgaria, Pirin Blagoevgrad was excluded after the first two matches for failing to deal with its debt crisis and was banished to regional football. Ireland’s Dublin City went bankrupt during the season and folded, while Shamrock Rovers, which in 2005 had had eight points deducted for financial reasons, played in First Division. Three Azerbaijan clubs resigned because of concerns over money, and Terek in Russia had six points taken off for delaying player-trade payments. Hasan Sas and Hakan Sukur, two leading players with Galatasaray in Turkey, contributed to the wages of cleaners and other staff of the cash-strapped club.

Celtic won its 40th Scottish League championship, but for the first time in nine years, Celtic and the third-place Rangers failed to finish as one of the top two. Second-place Heart of Midlothian won the Scottish Cup, though only after a penalty shoot-out against Gretna, which had enjoyed a meteoric rise since joining the Scottish League in 2002 from semiprofessional football in England. Thanks in part to the wealth of owner Roman Abramovich, Chelsea retained its Premier League title in England and added substantially to the quality of its playing staff. (In the summer the team acquired Ukrainian striker Andriy Shevchenko, Germany’s World Cup captain and midfield player Michael Ballack, and England international left-back Ashley Cole in a trade that took the French international William Gallas to Arsenal.) Meanwhile, Arsenal moved to its new 60,000-capacity Emirates Stadium at Ashburton Grove.

An unusually high number of European clubs (11) won both league and cup titles in the season: FK Austria, Bayern Munich, F91 Dudelange (Luxembourg), CSKA Moscow, Red Star Belgrade (Serbia), Porto (Portugal), Serif (Moldova), Olympiakos (Greece), Ruzomberok (Slovakia), Linfield (Northern Ireland), and TVMK (Estonia), which scored 138 league goals in 36 matches and possessed, in Tarmo Neemelo, the leading goalscorer in Europe, with 41 goals. In Ukraine, Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev finished level on points, and in the subsequent play-off, Shakhtar won 2–1 to retain its title. Lyon won the French championship for the fifth successive season and had a 15-point lead over the runner-up. Montenegro voted for independence from Serbia in May, which would increase UEFA membership to 53.

The Americas

Although Brazil failed to retain its Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup title in 2006, the country’s supremacy in association football (soccer) continued in South America. Brazil beat rival Argentina 3–0 in a friendly match on neutral ground late in the year. The final of the Libertadores de América Cup (South America’s major club competition) was an all-Brazilian affair for the second straight year as Pôrto Alegre’s Internacional defeated cup defender São Paulo Football Club 4–3 on aggregate (2–1, 2–2). São Paulo easily won the Brazilian national championship, and goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni—who had played more than 700 games for the club since his 1991 debut—became the record goalkeeper scorer (from penalties and free kicks), with 68.

Argentine clubs failed to make the semifinals in either the Libertadores or the South American Cup. Boca Juniors, on the point of winning their third straight Argentine league title, slipped in the rankings and were beaten in a play-off game by Estudiantes de La Plata. Boca Juniors had to be satisfied with capturing the Recopa between the two 2005 cup winners, in which they beat São Paulo on aggregate (2–2, 2–1).

The final of the CONCACAF (Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football) Cup was an all-Mexican affair, with América winning it for the fifth time by beating Toluca 2–1. Mexican clubs met with success as Pachuca won the South American Cup against Chile’s Colo Colo 1–1 and 2–1 in the two-game final.

The Houston Dynamo won the Major League Soccer Cup for the first time, scoring 4–3 on penalty kicks against the New England Revolution. It was New England’s second straight MLS Cup loss and the third in five years. Earlier, the Chicago Fire beat the Los Angeles Galaxy 3–1 to win the U.S. Open Cup for the fourth time. American women stretched their unbeaten run to 32 games when the national team beat Canada 2–1 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Both countries qualified for the 2007 FIFA Women’s World Cup in China. Argentina and Brazil qualified from South America.

Africa and Asia

Two East Asian countries (Japan and South Korea) and four teams from sub-Saharan Africa (Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo) participated in the 2006 association football (soccer) World Cup finals, though only Ghana qualified for the round of 16. (See Sidebar.)

South Africa, the host of the World Cup finals in 2010, pulled off a coup in August when the national team persuaded Carlos Alberto Parreira, who guided Brazil to its 1994 World Cup title, to become its coach. South Africa previously had had 13 different coaches in 13 years. In the African Cup of Nations final at the National Stadium in Cairo on February 10, Egypt, the host country, defeated Côte d’Ivoire 4–2 on penalties after a goalless draw. It was a record fifth such success for Egypt.

Tajikistan won the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup, beating Sri Lanka 4–0 in the final at Dhaka, Bangladesh, on April 16. Dzhomikhon Muhidinov scored two of the goals. Shandong Luneng Taishan won the Chinese Super League, with five matches still remaining; the team’s leading scorer was Li Jinyu, with 26 goals.

U.S. Football

College

The University of Florida won the top college football ranking for the 2006–07 season by defeating Ohio State University 41–14 in the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) championship game on Jan. 8, 2007, in Glendale, Ariz. Quarterback Chris Leak completed his first nine passes, and the Southeastern Conference winner scored on six of its seven first-half possessions, four of them starting in Ohio State territory, to take a 34–14 lead. With Ohio native Urban Meyer in his second season as their coach, the Gators (13–1) were the fourth team in five years to beat the top-ranked team in the championship game and became the first university to hold simultaneous national championships in football and basketball. Big Ten champion Ohio State (12–1) fell from first to fifth in scoring defense after having allowed only 125 points in 12 regular-season games.

The only undefeated team in big-budget Division I-A was Western Athletic Conference champion Boise State (13–0), the first team from a lesser-regarded conference to play in a BCS bowl and the Fiesta Bowl’s 43–42 overtime winner against Big 12 champion Oklahoma (11–3). Boise State tied the score with seven seconds left in regulation time on a 50-yd touchdown on fourth and 18, using a “hook-and-ladder” play with the pass receiver lateraling the ball back to a teammate. After falling behind by seven points in overtime, Boise State scored on wide receiver Vinny Peretta’s fourth-down two-yard pass and then won on a two-point conversion when quarterback Jared Zabransky faked a pass but handed off behind his back to Ian Johnson, who scored untouched on the “Statue of Liberty” play. Johnson was the national leader, with 25 touchdowns and 152 points for Boise State’s second-ranked scoring offense.

Boise State finished fifth in the Associated Press poll of reporters, behind Florida, Ohio State, Louisiana State (11–2), and Pacific 10 champion Southern California (11–2) and just ahead of Big East champion Louisville (12–1) and Wisconsin (12–1). The coaches’ USA Today poll agreed with the top four but had Wisconsin at fifth instead of seventh. Louisiana State defeated Notre Dame (10–3) in the Sugar Bowl 41–14, and Louisville won the Orange Bowl 24–13 over Atlantic Coast Conference champion Wake Forest (11–3). In the Insight Bowl, Texas Tech overcame a 38–7 deficit in less than 20 minutes for a 44–41 overtime victory over Minnesota for the biggest comeback ever in a bowl game. It followed Michigan State’s record-setting regular-season comeback, a 41–38 victory over Northwestern after trailing 38–3 with less than 25 minutes to play.

Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith won the Heisman Trophy as player of the year, giving his school a tie with Notre Dame and Southern California for the most Heismans, with seven. Smith also received the Walter Camp award and split the two national quarterback awards with Notre Dame’s Brady Quinn, who won the Maxwell Award as player of the year. Wisconsin offensive tackle Joe Thomas was awarded the Outland Trophy as best interior lineman. Recognizing the top defenders, the Chuck Bednarik Award went to Penn State linebacker Paul Posluszny for the second straight year, and the Bronko Nagurski Trophy went to Ohio State middle linebacker James Laurinaitis, the first sophomore winner. The Lombardi Award for linemen and linebackers was given to defensive end LaMarr Woodley of Michigan, which ranked first by allowing just 43.4 yd rushing per game, 17 yd better than any other team. Coach of the Year Greg Schiano led Rutgers (11–2) to a 37–10 Texas Bowl victory over Kansas State four seasons after the team was 1–11.

Quarterback Colt Brennan of Hawaii (11–3) set a Division I-A record with 58 touchdown passes and also led with 5,549 yd passing, 5,915 yd of total offense, 9.93 yd per pass, 72.6% completions, and a 186.0 passer rating, 17 points above the next best. Hawaii’s 46.9 points, 559.2 yd, and 441.3 yd passing per game also topped the division. Northern Illinois’s Garrett Wolfe was the best runner, with 1,928 yd, and New Mexico State’s Chris Williams led receivers with 92 catches and 1,415 yd.

The lower-budget divisions’ championship tournaments all produced repeat winners: 14–1 Appalachian State’s (N.C.) fourth Division I-AA crown in five years, 15–0 Grand Valley State (Mich.) in Division II over previously undefeated Northwest Missouri State, and the ninth title in 14 years for 15–0 Mount Union (Ohio) over previously undefeated Wisconsin-Whitewater; 14–0 Sioux Falls (S.D.) won the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics championship. Other Division I-A conference winners were Utah’s Brigham Young (11–2) of the Mountain West, Central Michigan (10–4) of the Mid-American, Houston (10–4) of Conference USA, and 8–5 Troy (Ala.) of the Sun Belt.

Professional

The Pittsburgh Steelers of the American Football Conference (AFC) won Super Bowl XL and the 2005–06 National Football League (NFL) championship in a 21–10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football Conference (NFC) on Feb. 5, 2006, in Detroit. The Steelers did not win their division but beat the AFC’s top three play-off seeds as a “wild card” before winning the Super Bowl in the hometown of Jerome Bettis, who then retired after 13 seasons as the NFL’s fifth best all-time rusher. Most Valuable Player (MVP) Hines Ward caught five passes for 123 yd and a touchdown from Ben Roethlisberger, who ran his record to 27–4 as a starting quarterback. The Steelers missed the 2006–07 play-offs, however, after Roethlisberger was injured in an off-season motorcycle accident and then suffered an early-season concussion.

San Diego (14–2), led by MVP LaDainian Tomlinson, had the best 2006–07 regular-season record. Tomlinson had a league-high 1,815 yd rushing and set records with 31 touchdowns (28 by rushing) and 186 points for San Diego’s top-scoring offense with 30.8 points per game. San Diego, the AFC West champion, was joined in the conference play-offs by the other division winners—Baltimore (13–3) of the North, Indianapolis (12–4) of the South, and New England (12–4) of the East—and by Kansas City (9–7) and the New York Jets (10–6), the AFC wild cards. Baltimore’s defense allowed the fewest points and yards per game as the Ravens matched New Orleans’s seven-game improvement over 2005.

On December 10 LaDainian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers rushes for his third touchdown of the …

AP

NFC South winner New Orleans (10–6) was one of seven teams to reach the play-offs after missing them the previous year; the Saints returned home after Hurricane Katrina forced them to play 2005 home games in San Antonio, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; and the New York Giants’ stadium. Quarterback Drew Brees, cast off by San Diego after surgery on his throwing shoulder, led NFL passers with 4,418 yd as New Orleans led the league with 391.5 yd and 281.4 yd passing per game and improved its scoring rank from 31st to 5th. NFC division winners Chicago (13–3) of the North, Philadelphia (10–6) of the East, and Seattle (9–7) of the West qualified for the play-offs, along with the NFC wild cards, Dallas (9–7) and the Giants (8–8).

Chicago improved in scoring from 26th to 3rd with help from rookie Devin Hester’s NFL-record six kick returns for touchdowns (on punts, kickoffs, and a missed field goal), as well as a solid defense led by middle linebacker Brian Urlacher. Atlanta’s Michael Vick was the first quarterback to run for more than 1,000 yd, gaining 1,039 yd for the league-leading rushing team with 183.7 per game. His teammate 46-year-old kicker Morten Andersen set the career scoring record with 2,445 points, and Green Bay’s Brett Favre set the pass-completions record with 5,021 in what, after winning his last game, he tearfully said might have been his last season. Other league leaders were Indianapolis’s Peyton Manning with 31 touchdown passes and a 101.0 passer rating, Houston’s Andre Johnson with 103 catches, Cincinnati’s Chad Johnson with 1,369 yd receiving, and San Diego’s Shawne Merriman with 17 sacks.

Roger Goodell replaced Paul Tagliabue as commissioner in the first year of a new television contract that moved Monday Night Football from ABC after 36 years to ESPN. NBC took ESPN’s former Sunday-night slot, showing matchups that sometimes were chosen within a week or two of the game. The league’s own NFL network broadcast eight games, the first ever that were not widely available over the air or on standard cable channels.

When the Chicago Rush defeated the Orlando Predators 69–61, the Arena Football League’s 20th season brought the first championship to the city where the indoor game was invented.

Canadian Football

The B.C. Lions won the 2006 Canadian Football League (CFL) championship by defeating the Montreal Alouettes 25–14 in the Grey Cup on November 19 in Winnipeg, Man. Paul McCallum tied a Cup record with six field goals, but quarterback Dave Dickenson, with 184 yd passing and 53 yd rushing, was named Most Valuable Player. Opposing quarterback Anthony Calvillo set a cup record for career passing yards for Montreal, which lost its fourth Grey Cup in five tries since 2000.

In the CFL Grey Cup on November 19, Paul McCallum of the champion B.C. Lions kicks his record-tying …

AP

West Division champion British Columbia (13–5) finished the season as the only CFL team with more than 10 victories and led offenses with 26.9 points and 292.3 yd passing per game. Montreal (10–8), the East Division winner, was one of six teams to win between 7 and 10 games in the balanced eight-team league, and only two teams were below .500.

Lions players also won six of the seven Rogers awards for outstanding performance: slotback Geroy Simon was the Outstanding Player and the Fans’ Choice, with league highs of 1,856 yd receiving and 15 touchdown catches; defensive end Brent Johnson was chosen the best defensive player and the top Canadian; left tackle Rob Murphy won the Outstanding Lineman Award; and defensive tackle Aaron Hunt was designated the top rookie. The Outstanding Special Teams Player was Calgary kicker Sandro DeAngelis, who led the league with 214 points. Edmonton quarterback Ricky Ray was the CFL’s best passer, with 5,000 yd passing and a rating of 89.8, while Winnipeg running back Charles Roberts led the league with 1,609 yd rushing and 2,020 yd from scrimmage.

Australian Football

For the second successive year, the Sydney Swans played the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL) Grand Final, but in 2006 there was a different result. On September 30, in front of a crowd of 97,431 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Eagles won by one point. The Eagles led after each quarter and at halftime had opened up a strong 25-point lead, but the defending champion Swans fought back gallantly until the closing minutes. The 12.13 (85)–12.12 (84) win gave the Eagles their third AFL title, adding to the victories in 1992 and 1994. They were brilliantly led by captain Chris Judd. The Eagles also finished on top of the ladder after the 22 home-and-away regular-season matches.

Andrew Embley of the Eagles won the Norm Smith Medal as best man on the ground in the Grand Final, and Adam Goodes of the Swans was awarded the Brownlow Medal as the AFL’s best and fairest player. Carlton’s Brendan Fevola won the Coleman Medal with the most home-and-away goals (84); Brad Johnson of the Western Bulldogs was selected captain of the All-Australian team; and Danyle Pearce of Port Adelaide earned the NAB Rising Star Award as the AFL’s best youngster.

Rugby Football

Another almost perfect season for the New Zealand All Blacks in 2006 reaffirmed the Kiwis as the world’s number one Rugby Union side and the hot favourites for the 2007 World Cup. The only blip in their 13 Tests of 2006 was the 21–20 Tri-Nations defeat in South Africa, but the All Blacks had already clinched the title. Their run seemed all the more remarkable in a year when they lost Tana Umaga, their captain and inspirational leader. Umaga retired, but New Zealand found an equally impressive replacement in Richie McCaw. He not only led New Zealand to its seventh Tri-Nations title in 11 years but also captained the Canterbury Crusaders to the inaugural Rebel Sport Super 14 club trophy. At the Commonwealth Games, held in Melbourne in March, New Zealand won a thrilling final against England 29–21. Fiji picked up the bronze in Melbourne, and in May the Fijians were crowned IRB World Sevens Series champions. New Zealand had won that World Sevens series trophy every year since its inception in 2000, but in 2006 Fiji’s consistent form took it home, with England second, and South Africa third.

England’s decline continued to baffle most observers. In 2003 the English national side was the Rugby Union World Cup champion, but in 2006 the team finished fourth in the Six Nations tournament and dropped to seventh in the world rankings. France won the Six Nations title—on points difference—after having lost to Scotland early in the tournament. Irish club Munster won the Heineken European Cup, defeating Biarritz Olympique of France 23–19 in the final. In Europe’s second competition, the European Challenge Cup, Gloucester bested London Irish 36–34 in the final and earned a place in the 2006–07 Heineken Cup.

The Sale Sharks won their first English championship, beating Leicester 45–20 in the Guinness Premiership final. Ulster triumphed in the Celtic League, and the Wasps beat Llanelli 26–10 in the final of the Powergen Cup. The famous Harlequins club won a place back in the Guinness Premiership, after having been relegated a year earlier. The South African Currie Cup was shared after the Blue Bulls and the Cheetahs drew 28–28 in the final. Waikato won the new-look Air New Zealand NPC, with a 37–31 victory over Wellington.

Australia won the Rugby League Tri-Nations title, defeating New Zealand 16–12 in extra time in the final match on November 25. In the Australian National Rugby League championship, the Melbourne Storm finished atop the ladder at the end of the regular season but on October 1 lost to the third-place Brisbane Broncos 15–8 in the Grand Final. St. Helens was a double winner; it routed the Huddersfield Giants 42–12 in the August 26 final of the Challenge Cup and two months later overwhelmed Hull 26–4 in the English Super League.